6.5X55 Swede - Commercial vs. Military Reloder Recipes

[FatOldMIHunter]

I have RL 23 for my 7mm RM and I would like to develop a 140 gr load for my modern 6.5X55. Alliant gives their reloading data differently than Hodgdon, so I'm confused. Looking at the Alliant website I see two different sets of "recipes" for the 6.5X55 Swede. The military action with Speer 140 gr SP lists a RL 23 recipe. The commercial action has recipes for the Speer 140 gr SP, but not a RL 23 recipe. The two action types have no other 140 gr recipes in common, so I can't compare them directly, but they have both have an RL 22 recipe for the Speer 120 gr SP and the military action recipe is 4 grains lower in powder. I assume the commercial actions are capable of significantly higher pressures than the military actions and therefore the military action recipes should also be good (as in safe for a starting load) for the commercial (modern) actions, but I would appreciate hearing this from some who have knowledge of this caliber. The rifle is a Howa 1500. The bullet would be 140 gr Nosler Accubond or Ballistic Tip Hunting.

TIA

 

[rardoin]

I shoot a 6.5 x55 BJAI (61gr water capacity with Lapua brass) with 140 class VLD type bullets. I load 49.2 gr to get 2940's fps. My bullet's boat tail base is about halfway down the shoulder. With a flat base hunting bullet well off the lands you may only have room for 45gr or so. I would start at 44-45 gr and work up. ReLoder-23 has been an excellent powder for me and I think it will do well in your case.

 

[KMart]

Look through this thread

http://forum.accurateshooter.com/threads/reloader-23-survey.3919382/page-2

There is several references to 6.5x55 and the AI versions. You may be able to find some help there

 

[Laurie]

There are two variants of the 6.5X55 ignoring 19th and early 20th century loadings as used by the the two countries (Norway and Sweden) that jointly developed the cartridge and used in their military weapons.

As a European designed cartridge, the CIP which is the European equivalent of SAAMI

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commi...nte_pour_l'Epreuve_des_Armes_à_Feu_Portatives

in effect 'owns this design. It calls the cartridge the 6.5X55mm SE and specifies an MAP of 3,800 bar (55,114 psi) but with the rider that this pressure ceiling is for modern firearms, not 19th century designs such as the M1894/96/1938 Swedish Mauser and the various 1880s Norwegian Krag-Jorgensen, not to mention the US manufactured Remington rolling block single shot models.

The US SAAMI organization also lists the cartridge (as 6.5X55 Swedish) and produces specs for it as it was a chambering in an American firearms design, but works on the lower pressures of 46,000 CUP (Copper Units of Pressure) using the older and now discontinued copper pellet crusher pressure gun system. This is roughly equivalent to 51,000 psi using more modern methods.

(From my experience of US deerhunting 140gn PSP Load put over a chronograph, I'd say the larger US ammunition companies are loading to nowhere near 50,000 psi, obviously afraid of it being shot in 100 year old surplus rifles, some possibly in junker condition.)

So one sometimes sees two sets of data, 'SE' and 'Swedish' (or 'Swedish Mauser'), but more often not in which case it is difficult to know which of the two standards is being used unless the text specifies this explicitly.

There is also a third European specification / name - the 6.5X55mm SKAN. (SKAN for Scandinavian) which has caused all sorts of confusion and heartache on this and other forums. From a handloading point of view, this is the 'SE'. The change arose from the Scandinavian countries which have their own keenly fought inter-country match disciplines deciding to select and adopt a single rifle model to be used by all competitors for these matches which also see the host country supply FMJBT arsenal type ammunition to all entrants. It was found that due to slightly different interpretations of the original 1894 case and chamber dimensions' tolerances by Norway and Sweden, it was possible for slight cartridge to chamber mismatches to occur which could allegedly favour the 'home team' in some instances. Therefore as part of the specification process for the new rifle (the Sig-Sauer STR 200 adopted around 1990) a common set of more tightly toleranced dimensions was adopted for both chamber and case.

From a handloading point of view, none of these affects the mechanical / physical aspects. That is die, brass, and bullet specifications are common to all three - it's just (JUST ??) the amount of powder it's safe to use.

I can't help you with Re23 - it's not imported into the UK by Alliant ATK (which also applies to every other recent Swedish manufactured introduction, a shame given the high praise we see on the Accurate Shooter forum for AR-Comp, Re16 and 23.)

 

[Bigguy1951]

I won't disclose the amount of RE23 I am using in my 6.5x55 Tikka, but it is more than the max loads listed for either of the variants you have asked about. I am getting 2938 fps using 140 gr Berger VLD's. The one thing that has really jumped out to me with the RE23 is the use of magnum primers. It sure seems to like the magnum primers and velocities jump about 100 fps in my load with them. As a disclosure I have no pressure signs, none. No bolt imprints on the case head, no bolt clicks, no difficult extractions and no problem with loose primers, even after 8 reloads on the Lapua brass. If you are going to chase these faster loads, do so in small steps.

 

[mongo chicago]

My 2 cents. Since it is a modern rifle, don't worry about the two separate listing for loads. Just pick the one that suits your needs. I understand the convenience of having one powder for several cartridges, but sometimes you just have to bite the bullet and use something else. Do some research to find the best powder for you.

 

[FatOldMIHunter]

I shoot a 6.5 x55 BJAI (61gr water capacity with Lapua brass) with 140 class VLD type bullets. I load 49.2 gr to get 2940's fps. My bullet's boat tail base is about halfway down the shoulder. With a flat base hunting bullet well off the lands you may only have room for 45gr or so. I would start at 44-45 gr and work up. ReLoder-23 has been an excellent powder for me and I think it will do well in your case.

Thanks. Alliant recommends starting at 10% below their recipe amount and working up slowly to no higher than their recipe value. That would be 36 - 40 grains. I was planning to start down around 40 and watching for pressure signs. I realize that case capacity might be the upper limiting factor rather than pressure.

 

[FatOldMIHunter]

I won't disclose the amount of RE23 I am using in my 6.5x55 Tikka, but it is more than the max loads listed for either of the variants you have asked about. I am getting 2938 fps using 140 gr Berger VLD's. The one thing that has really jumped out to me with the RE23 is the use of magnum primers. It sure seems to like the magnum primers and velocities jump about 100 fps in my load with them. As a disclosure I have no pressure signs, none. No bolt imprints on the case head, no bolt clicks, no difficult extractions and no problem with loose primers, even after 8 reloads on the Lapua brass. If you are going to chase these faster loads, do so in small steps.

I planned to try both Large Rifle and Large Rifle Magnum primers during the load development. They would be CCI 200 and 250 and Remington 9-1/2M and the brass is Lapua.

 

[FatOldMIHunter]

My 2 cents. Since it is a modern rifle, don't worry about the two separate listing for loads. Just pick the one that suits your needs. I understand the convenience of having one powder for several cartridges, but sometimes you just have to bite the bullet and use something else. Do some research to find the best powder for you.

I plan to try two other powders, H4831 and one other that I haven't chosen yet, but I saw that others here were happy with RL23.

 

[perry42]

I use H4831 & H4831SC behind Scenar 139gr and 142gr SMK's in my 6.5x55AI. Best accuracy seems to occur around 2950fps.

perry42